


The Subtle Art of Shutting Up

by Lockea



Series: Shinra's Assets [1]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Assassins & Hitmen, Crossdressing, M/M, Prostitution, Slavery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:08:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23695195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lockea/pseuds/Lockea
Summary: (Prequel to "How Bright the Stars")Reno is the new kid on the block with the Turks, and not willing to mess up this chance he’s been given to get topside.  Cloud is just an assignment Reno has to take, whether he likes it or not. Yet the more he escorts the young courtesan everyone is calling the Golden Rose, the more he comes to realize the two may have quite a bit in common. It’s a fine line Reno’s walking, however, because sooner or later his big mouth might just get him – or more likely Cloud – hurt.In a world where Shinra owns much of the land and calls people among its possessions, love can be your greatest weakness. Reno and Cloud both know better, or, at least, they should by now.
Relationships: Reno/Cloud Strife, Rufus Shinra/Cloud Strife
Series: Shinra's Assets [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1706398
Comments: 10
Kudos: 33





	The Subtle Art of Shutting Up

**Author's Note:**

> I am LIVING for the Final Fantasy VII Remake. I am also living for my latest otp, Cloud/Andrea. Because I slut-ship Cloud shamelessly. :D 
> 
> Over the last thirteen months, seven of them were spent in mental health care facilities. Up until I sat down and started writing this last Sunday, I had not written a single word in over nine months. Not writing in so long means that every word of this chapter was like pulling teeth. I feel like I've lost a lot of skills, and I fought tooth and nail to get the words out of my head. After running through Wall Market, it was "How Bright the Stars" that I wanted to return to, but I knew trying to dig that story out of my head would be a losing battle. I've known since the very beginning of when I started working on Bright Stars exactly how Reno and Cloud met, and I knew just about all the details of Reno's past before the Turks. It seemed like the "how Cloud and Reno got together" story would be something far less stressful than trying to work on the monster that is "How Bright the Stars."
> 
> I chose not to use archive warnings, but the same ones apply from "How Bright the Stars". Rape/Non-con will always be referenced/off-screen and never explicit, although the aftermath may be shown. Underage warning because Cloud is seventeen in this fic. Per the norm, if you have specific triggers and need trigger warnings for them, then I will happily provide. One of my triggers being locker rooms (and in fic I dislike scenes taking place in locker rooms -- especially sex scenes) I fully and totally understand weird triggers and I want to aid you in being safe.

Reno was doing his best to blend into the wallpaper, only half heartedly listening, until Tseng mentioned him by name and he had to scramble to look like he was paying attention. By the way Tseng frowned at him, Reno guessed he wasn’t successful, but he was grateful when his supervisor merely continued, “Reno and Cissnei, you will be escorting Rufus and his courtesan. Keep an eye on them both but remember to be discreet. President Shinra doesn’t want his son balking the escort detail on his birthday.”

Across the room for him, standing against one of the other walls, Cissnei asked, “Any particular reason Reno is my partner tonight?” She asked. It was a valid question, even if Reno did bristle instinctively at the rejection.

“Assets will blend in better at the venue, and Reno has yet to work with Rufus so there’s no concern Rufus will duck his babysitter if he has no idea who his babysitter is. Cissnei, I’m expecting you to support and intervene if necessary. I’d rather not have Reno left out to the mercy of the wolves without someone to watch his back.”

“I can watch my own back, you know.” Reno groused; his arms crossed over his chest. Around him, the other Turks chuckled.

“I know you can.” Tseng replied. “But let me put it this way – you are exactly Rufus’s type and I have been keeping you away from him very deliberately. So make sure tonight you watch from afar and keep your status as a Turk as much of a secret as possible.”

Cissnei nodded as if that made any sense. “All right. I’ll stay out of sight then. If an intervention is necessary, I’ll do it and Reno can stay out of it.”

Reno wanted to ask why. Why didn’t they want the president’s son to know Reno was a Turk? A small part of his brain, dark and twisted, whispered that it was because the Turks were ashamed of him. Or worse, that he’d been accepted into their ranks out of pity and misplaced gratitude. Rather than risk an answer, Reno grumbled his assent and leaned back as Tseng finished giving orders and dismissed the Turks to their assignments.

As was her habit, Cissnei waited for everyone else to leave before she stepped over to speak quietly with Tseng. Reno waited for his partner to finish with poorly disguised impatience, but less than thirty seconds into their conversation, Tseng waved Reno over to them. “I need you both to be vigilant tonight. Rufus has requested the Department of Hospitality’s newest courtesan for his escort tonight.” He handed Cissnei a plain folder and the older redhead flipped it open to reveal a dossier. The courtesan in the picture was about Reno’s age, with golden hair curling around her shoulders and soulful blue eyes staring blankly at the camera, completely lacking in all expression or emotion. Reno whistled appreciatively. “Pretty cute, in an ice-cold kind of way. Almost enough to make me like ladies.”

“His name is Cloud.” Tseng said, completely ignoring Reno. Reno, however, did not miss Tseng’s pronoun use. “He’s from the Western Continent and just recently finished training as a courtesan in Rocket Town. His reports from training are exemplary but I do have to wonder if that in itself is a ploy. Despite his beauty, he is a runner and therefore not to be trusted. Sadly, that bit of danger is what has Rufus refusing to take any other courtesan tonight. It seems Rufus has found himself another Dark Nation.”

“Well, he is pretty.” Cissnei replied, “And not all runners are violent. I don’t think they’d let someone violent train as a courtesan.”

“Nah.” Reno answered. “First sign of violence and you’re out, yo. I think you’re over exaggerating, boss, but if it will make you feel better, I’ll keep and eye on the courtesan too.”

Tseng nodded. “I’m counting on you, Reno.”

Reno ignored the way his heart leapt in response to that. People didn’t count on Reno for things. Especially not people he respected in the way he respected Tseng. He wasn’t going to do anything to betray that trust.

Dismissed, Reno followed Cissnei out of the Turk’s briefing room, back to the cubicle they shared. Cissnei was a senior Turk, and most of the senior Turks had their own offices, or at least a cubicle to themselves. But Cissnei was also an Asset, like Reno. She’d never made a fuss about having to share with Reno – either her working space or the studio apartment in Shinra housing. Reno hadn’t liked Cissnei much at first, when he’d joined the Turks last year; she was too serene, too soft, and she never complained. He’d thought her weak, but after several months had come to revise that stance. Cissnei was steel beneath her gentle smiles, and her placid expression betrayed that she, like Reno, was a stormy ocean ready to sink everyone around her at any moment. She just hid her disquiet better than Reno did.

“I don’t like this.” Cissnei said as she dropped into her chair. Reno, even though he’d been standing for the last hour, leaned against the sliding door of their cubicle instead.

“What part?” Reno asked.

“All of it. I’m with Tseng – you shouldn’t go anywhere near Rufus. Tseng seems to think that in a confrontation it’d be you who ended up hurt, but I wouldn’t put it past you to kill Rufus if he tried anything with you.”

“And be sentenced to the reactors, or –worse– death?” Reno’s tone was flat and incredulous at once. “So he’s an entitled jackass. Not like I haven’t dealt with plenty of those before. Grit your teeth and clench your fists and keep your mouth shut. Believe it or not, I _can_ do that.”

“Even if he tried to force you into sex?” Cissnei asked and Reno’s heart stopped.

_C’mon, it’s your job, isn’t it?_

He shook the ghosts from his mind and ignored the shaking in his next breath to say, “Okay, well, I’d punch him and run away. Besides, why would he want me when he’s got that pretty courtesan – Cloud, or whatever – to keep him entertained?”

Cissnei shook her head, but decided to leave it alone. “Have you met him, by the way? Hospitality has decided the gimmick is that he’s genderless. Nobody is supposed to reveal whether he’s a man or a woman. Certainly seems to be working. The paparazzi are calling him Shinra’s Golden Rose.”

Reno shook his head. “Figures. It’s not like anything better is happening in this city. Nah, though I guess I’ll meet him soon enough. Maybe he’s as pretty and girly in real life as he looks in his photo.” He pushed off the wall and took a seat at his desk with a sigh. “All right, enough gossip. Tseng will murder me if I don’t finish my last report before we leave tonight.”

*~*~*

He was definitely cute, Reno decided about two hours into the rampage that was Rufus Shinra’s nineteenth birthday party. Cloud, that was. Rufus was as much of a douchebag in person as he was from a distance. The courtesan, on the other hand, was nowhere near as apathetic in person as he’d been in his dossier picture. He flirted, he smiled, he teased, and overall hung off of Rufus’s every word in a way that looked genuine rather than fawning. His blond hair was longer, falling past to the hollow of his shoulders in gentle waves. His blue dress was a halter with a plunging back and a skirt that fell to just above his knees matched with strappy heels that looked damn near impossible to walk in, but he managed despite the gold chain that limited his movements, forcing him to take small, measured steps. The most impressive part, Reno thought, was that the courtesan really did look like a young woman. Had Reno not been corrected by Tseng earlier, he’d have been none the wiser. Even his voice, the one time Reno had come close enough to hear it, was breathy and light.

The obnoxious part was that he wasn’t even Reno’s type. _Rude_ was Reno’s type. Rude with his stern expression and permanent frown, his rock-hard abs and body that sold out the gun show. Hell, even Tseng was more Reno’s type, and Tseng was _old._

(Not really, but everyone was old when compared to Reno who was just past his eighteenth birthday.)

Really, it was mostly that Reno didn’t have anything better to do. He was dressed in the uniform shared by the Assets that were serving at the party, and to hide that he’d never had any etiquette training, the other Assets would hand him their trays to be delivered to the kitchen so that he looked busy without actually engaging anyone. It was boring. B.O.R.I.N.G. So yeah, he was checking out the goods he’d never get to touch. Why the hell not?

So when Rufus stood up and pulled the pretty courtesan up beside him and made for the penthouse suite, Reno sighed in relief. Finally! Cissnei was the one officially assigned as Rufus’s bodyguard, and hadn’t protested when Rufus told her to check his rooms. She’d be up in the penthouse and take over the guarding duties while Rufus was there. Reno could take his break and get something to eat for the first time since lunch.

Reno wasted no time in sending Cissnei a text, _Baby S en route w C_. Then he headed back for the kitchens. There’d been a few sweets that Reno thought looked particularly tasty, and his sweet tooth was begging to be sated.

He was seated in the kitchen chatting casually with the other Assets who were taking their breaks from the party still raging on in the main hall and the pool deck, griping about rich kids with no respect for hard work, when his phone buzzed after about an hour and a half. It was from Cissnei, so Reno checked the message immediately.

_Boss incoming with materia. I’m escorting Baby S home. Come to the penthouse and watch C for me._

That… sounded ominous. Tseng usually didn’t come out in person unless something went to hell in a handbasket. Even if one of the Turk Assets needed a materia, he usually sent Rude or Rod or someone else to cast the spell. And Cissnei wasn’t the one injured or she wouldn’t be leaving with Rufus to take him home.

It was only in the elevator that the thought that maybe it was Cloud occurred to him. Still didn’t explain why Tseng was coming.

Cissnei was long gone by the time Reno made it to the top. The suite lights were lowered almost completely, casting the first room in long sepia shadows. Reno pushed the lights back to half brightness and grimaced as he took in the carnage of the room. Glass from the tumblers on the bar was strewn across the coffee table, alcohol still dripping onto the cream carpet. Clothes were left discarded on the way to the bedroom, and the purple buttons from the dress the courtesan had been wearing lay scattered alongside Rufus’s jacket and shirt. The bedroom wasn’t in much of a better state, the sheets mostly discarded on the floor and one pillow completely destroyed, blanketing parts of the room in downy feathers. “He really had a rager, didn’t he?” Reno mussed idly. From the nearby door to the bathroom, Reno heard the shower running. Probably the courtesan cleaning up, so Reno kept investigating. The sheets that remained on the bed were darkened with fluid, some of it uncomfortably reddish in color. Condoms, lube, and – of course – more alcohol covered the nightstand, though the alarm clock had been sent crashing to the floor in the course of their affair.

Reno decided to return to the living room, listening for the sound of the shower turning off to tell him when the courtesan was decent. With the couch blocked off by glass, Reno instead hopped up on the relatively unharmed bar counter and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

It must have been a good half hour before Reno felt his phone buzz, a message from Tseng. _Coming up. Have C ready for me._

The shower was still going. Reno knocked on the bathroom door but nothing greeted him back. He knocked louder. Silence still. The redhead pushed down concern, unhelpful and unwanted, and opened the door to the bathroom slowly. The room was just as opulent as the rest of the suite, marble tiled and gilded edges, the mirror fogged over from the steam in the large shower stall behind the door. “Hey.” Reno called into the room. “Time to get out of the shower.”

He waited for a few seconds before turning towards the shower stall and pulling the glass door back. The foggy glass had hidden all but the most obvious of the courtesan’s shape and appearance, but without it the abuse written across his skin stood stark red.

The courtesan was seated on the floor with his back against the wall, chained legs splayed wide and head tilted back into the flow of water. Red dripped sluggishly from gashes across his face and arms, while purple bruises blossomed against his hips and wrists. The courtesan’s eyes were closed, but he blinked slowly at Reno, unconcerned with his state, those blue eyes disinterested in the Turk and his words.

Reno swore. “He went to town on you, didn’t he?” Reno asked, and suddenly pieces started clicking into place. The scandal Rufus’s actions would cause if they became public knowledge. Tseng wasn’t coming just to heal the courtesan, but to make sure he knew the consequences of ever mentioning what had happened in this room.

The courtesan nodded, and wordlessly pushed himself to his feet, the chain strangely loud where it hit the tile. Reno found himself staring at it for a moment too long. A runner’s chain, this one more delicate than the ones Reno had seen on other runners, the cuffs around his ankles more ornate, but the function was the same. The courtesan took slow, measured steps and Reno only belatedly remembered to move out of his way before he pushed past, dripping water across the bathroom as he crossed the room to where a towel was laid out next to his dress. The leisurely movements would have seemed effortless, careless, were it not for the way he limped slightly with each step.

Reno found himself biting back a question to see if he was okay. He turned instead and left, giving Cloud what little privacy he could before Tseng arrived. It was stupid to get attached. Stupid to care. Last time he’d given a damn….

_I need to go home. I’m not supposed to be here._

Stupid girl, home safe now again and still haunting him. So it worked out once. That didn’t mean it’d work out a second time, and caring made him careless.

_They want courtesans, but we’re not courtesans. We’re cheap imitations, and because we’re so cheap, they can hurt us to satisfy themselves. No one would dare beat a real courtesan bloody – they cost too damn much._

He remembered that conversation, from at least five years ago. Remembered the older woman he’d been standing beside, alternating puffs on a cigarette between them. He remembered the bitterness in her voice, and the envy of those beautiful whores up on the plate, the ones that were like minor celebrities. Lita, her name had been, and Reno hadn’t thought of her in forever.

“What do you know, they’re not always precious and spoiled.” Reno muttered to himself. “Sometimes, they’re just like us.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey ya'll, if you can, please leave me a word or two of encouragement. As I mentioned in my first AN, I've been struggling with severe mental illness and writer's block, to the point where I've barely been functional. One way you can help me, is just to let me know you read my fic and what you thought of it. Kudos are, likewise, very much loved and welcomed. I know some people are really shy about comments, so I appreciate the kudos as well.


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